Download the list of 2012 Presenters and Titles

Welcome from the 2012 Host Committee

The Host Committee of the 72nd Annual Meeting is honored to welcome members and student members of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology to Raleigh, North Carolina, where you can experience first-hand a bit of southern hospitality. Your host committee consists of individuals representing a number of institutions and whose research interests encompass many facets of the discipline of vertebrate paleontology.

The principal institutions hosting this year's meeting are the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and North Carolina State University. The theme for this year's meeting emphasizes the Triassic roots of North Carolina paleontology and we hope that you take advantage of the chance to learn about some of our spectacular specimens. Our rich Cenozoic deposits have yielded spectacular marine faunas, including large cetaceans and sharks and our scheduled field trips focus on these fantastic deposits. For those whose interests lie towards more human-oriented questions, another field excursion offers a rare opportunity to visit the Duke Lemur Center, the world's largest sanctuary for rare and endangered prosimian (strepsirhine) primates, and includes a visit to collections at the Division of Fossil Primates.

Raleigh is a small city, by most standards, but is very cosmopolitan and easily accessible from any airport on the East coast, usually with direct flights. Raleigh is a premier travel destination, and presents visitors with a surprising diversity of ethnic cuisines and cultural opportunities, as well as more traditional southern cooking and hospitality. Our beautiful downtown area, within walking distance from the museum, offers many restaurants with a wide selection of food and drink, and many featuring outdoor seating, a real treat for socializing with colleagues on warm October evenings.

We warmly welcome you with a reception at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, where we will highlight our new Nature Research Center. While most traditional museums present a public face to the question 'What do we know?', our new research facility is committed to bringing to the public a deeper awareness of the process of science, by emphasizing in all exhibits ' HOW do we know what we know'. To this end we have developed many 'citizen science' activities, and encourage public participation in research through more accessible, continually updated exhibits. We hope that you enjoy all the highlights of our museum, our city and our state as you take part in the 72nd Annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Welcome to the City of Oaks!

Call for Field Photos

As part of the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Host Committee is requesting submission of field photographs featuring the society's membership. A collection of the photos will be compiled into a montage that will be shown at the Welcome Reception on Wednesday, October 17, within the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences' new Nature Research Center.

Please make sure the photos have a high dpi, since these images will be projected in the Daily Planet, an immense, three-story, high definition multimedia sphere. There is no limit of pictures that can be submitted per person. E-mail your pictures or questions. The deadline for sending in photos is October 1.

We look forward to sharing the field adventures of our hard working members.

Important Dates

E-mail portion due March 5, 2012 at NOON Central Time USA; mailed portion must be postmarked no later than March 12, 2012

Program for Scientists from Economically Developing Nations Application Deadline

Thursday, March 15, 2012 at NOON Central Time USA

Romer and Colbert Abstract Submission Periods End

Thursday, April 5, 2012 at NOON Central Time USA

ALL Other Abstracts Submission Periods End

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at NOON Central Time USA

ALL Other Awards Submission Due

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at NOON Central Time USA

Abstract Notification

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Registration is Available

Monday, June 11, 2012

Early Registration Discount Deadline

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Field Trip and Workshop Registration Deadline

Friday, September 14, 2012

Collections Reservation Deadline

Friday, August 31, 2012

Advance Registration Deadline

Friday, September 14, 2012

Hotel Reservation Deadline

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

About the 2012 Meeting Logo

The 2012 Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting logo features a life reconstruction of Rutiodon carolinensis. This phytosaur was named by NC State Geologist Ebenezer Emmons in 1856, and its type locality is the New Egypt Coal Mine within the Cumnock Formation. Rutiodon carolinensis is widely recognized as an icon of the Triassic Period. Within the popular imagination, it serves as an ambassador for the prolific Triassic rift basin deposits of North Carolina. Caught in its jaw is a sprig of oak. This whimsical anachronism is intended to represent Raleigh, the City of Oaks. The logo was designed by Kristin Lamm, a graduate student at North Carolina State University.

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SVP NEWS

As a follow-up to the September live show and radio broadcast that featured work of some SVP members in the Triassic of Bears Ears National Monument (Indian Creek area), ScienceFriday just posted an extensive multimedia-rich digital story on the research there: https://methods.sciencefriday.com/the-mass-extinction-detectives
The story features quotes from a number of SVP members.
Science Friday also produced an accompanying short a...
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The Natural History Museum in London is asking for your help in preserving and making accessible a major palaeontological attraction in London. The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs are a series of some 30 life-size models of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures in Crystal Palace Park. As well as attracting thousands of visitors a year, they have great historical importance as they date from the 1850s, were designed by Sir Richard Owen a...
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